Cup of Cold Water Ministries
Stories from the field
A Collection of Stories From The Heart Of A Missionary
Meet our Cup of Cold Water Ministries Next Generation Scholarship Recipient ~ Zola Sad, depressed, hurt, alone and hopeless. Those are the main words describing the childhood life that I survived. In Mongolia, the sun came up and a new day began. But I didn’t want to get up because the night before was all too short. During the night my parents argued the fighting was so intense. My father was violent and mom was hurt badly. We left in the darkness of night. But we had no where to go. It was dark and dangerous in the ger district area where the roads are simply dirt and the homes are stacked thoughtlessly throughout a maze of slum district. We wandered in the cold. Mom was completely overwhelmed as she tried to find a place to shelter her three little girls. No luck. Hopeless, mom walked us back home. We quietly entered thankful that my father was asleep. No more violence tonight. But still my tears were easily flowing and I needed to hide and cry in my bed. And this story repeated itself throughout my childhood. Sadly, my father's alcohol addiction created a tired abusive string of memories. Yet I do not judge him. My father was one of fourteen siblings and they were all leading difficult lives in the poverty of Mongolia. He too had lost his childhood. Seven of his siblings passed away suddenly at a young age due to suicide, alcoholism and drug addiction Most who survived, are still struggling with excessive alcohol consumption. Therefore, my mother had to work hard to take care of us. My siblings and I used to sell things in an open market to make a living. Due to my financial struggle at home and family situation, I was often challenged at my school by classmates who mocked and teased me. It was hurtful. Sometimes I wanted to take my life during my teenage years. But there is a hope… You see, because of all those hardships, I sought God. Without them, maybe I never would have. In 1998, a local church was planted by Korean missionaries right in my neighborhood. The missionaries invited me to Sunday school. I was only seven years old. I couldn't resist this new church and found my way into my first Christian experience. From that day forward I’ve attended the church every Sunday even though my entire family was Buddhist. I found peace there. I would pray for my family, especially my father. One day, after attending church for quite some time, my pastor’s wife invited me to her home and gave me a chance to talk about my life. She listened carefully and shared God’s word with me and led me in prayers. I cried a lot and felt the touch of the Holy Spirit deeply in my heart. It was a turning point for me and I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I made a decision to get baptized when I was fourteen years old. It was difficult since my family disagreed with my faith and saw it as a Western religion, but I knew what I had found and I could not turn back. My life, my future, my entire path was changed because of Jesus. Through the word of God and love of Christian brothers and sisters, I’ve overcome all the depression, I've survived the life long crisis. I'm living the abundant life promised those who follow Jesus. Now I want to help others who are living in the pain I was in as a little girl. Two years ago I came to the United States with hope to learn, to grow, and to go back to Mongolia stronger. At that time, without much of a plan, I prayed for God to lead me, provide for me, take care of me as I tried to make my way. And He did. He provided work. He provided energy to do that work. He provided friends. I became a volunteer with Cup of Cold Water Ministries, serving in the workshops and teaching people about missions. After all, I am a living testimony of why missionaries must be sent. I am ready for my new journey to study at Moody Bible Institute. I have paid more than half my semester and pray for the funding to complete my payments. I'm going to get my masters in counseling and take it back to my hurting people. Peace, joy, love, fellowship and hope. These are the words that can describe me now. Thank you Jesus. Psalm 147:3 He heals the brokenhearted and binds their wounds. To Donate Now using credit, debit or PayPal
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Why not? As college students, we get asked “What is your major?”, as frequently as we get asked “How are you?”. I have learned that people love to hear dreams and future plans; they like to be able to visualize with you where you will be in the next 5-10 years. When I explain that the program I am entering Moody Bible Institute to study is called Ministry to Victims of Sexual Exploitation, I am often met with the response of, “Wow that’s awesome, but I could never do that.” I am always tempted to respond with “Me neither”. Because looking at this mountain of a multi-billion dollar industry, feeling my heart shatter in light of the 21 million lives stolen, then taking a look at myself in the mirror, I can say with complete confidence, “I can’t.” But when I look at this mountain and I tell it about my God, my perspective is forced to shift. I don’t remember specifically where I learned about human-trafficking, but I do remember the burden I felt. I believe God graciously breaks our hearts for what breaks His, and I think if it happened all at once, I wouldn’t have been able to handle it. When I was a senior in high school, I began to take on the responsibility of this burden and the Lord gave me a new name for it - “my calling”. I researched, wrote papers, created projects, and finally constructed a four-piece art exhibit for my senior art show based on the issue of human-trafficking. Through that art show and sharing my heart on the issue, my passion grew and I saw God move in my life. " But when I look at this mountain and I tell it about my God, my perspective is forced to shift." My freshman year of college I was still wrestling between working towards the American dream, or living the life I felt called to. That December, I had the opportunity to go on a mission trip to Thailand through Cup of Cold Water Ministries. We spent a week serving in the red-light district of Bangkok. We served at a center that provides safety, skill-training, and healing in every aspect for those working to escape the sex-industry. During our time of outreach to the women working the bars, I noticed an indescribable emptiness when I locked eyes with the girls. Many of them were younger than my 19 year-old self. When they realized that my heart was with them and that I had a different kind of love for them that was unlike the attention given by men stopping by, they opened their hearts to me. They shared about their families and their children and their past. They shared why they were indirectly forced to be there. For most, it was because they had countless people relying on them to provide. They seemed to be trying to convince themselves and me that this was only temporary. Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy. ~ Proverbs 31:8-7 As I stared into the eyes of one specific girl, I held her bruised hand and told her that she is precious, beautiful, and Jesus says she is worthy of immeasurably more. I couldn’t help but feel that was my purpose. I knew that in light of this experience, there was no way I could possibly go back to the States and live my life the same way. I could not consciously be aware that this girl as well as millions of others, would be treated so poorly night after night, and yet still strive towards the American dream. God had called and assured me that this is my purpose. I have been so incredibly blessed to be given the life and the voice I have. I am able to speak up and people will listen to my words. My life and country provides a platform to speak up for what I see and freedom to act on it. Unfortunately the 21 million people trafficked each years cannot say the same. God has given me this life and this voice to not build myself up, but to extend my arms and lift up a voice for those who do not have one. Katie Schupp is interning with Cup of Cold water Ministries and entering Moody Bible Institute in the fall of 2019 to work toward her BA in Ministry to Victims of Sexual Violence.
AUTHOR: ANDREW KITTELSON 1. S A L V A T I O N If you believe in eternity, life after death, a heaven and a hell, God’s wrath, the great commission, making disciples, you probably will agree that taking the good news of salvation to people across the world is more than simply a noble cause. It’s an urgency. Paying missionaries to do so allows them to give of their time to reach out to the lost and share the good news of salvation. 2. V A L U E S Missionaries get paid to teach values and to transmit values through their example. Have you ever heard of moral bankruptcy? Some cultures are more morally bankrupt than others and missionaries get paid to take values from one culture to another. One of the things that the church culture should theoretically be able to give to morally bankrupt cultures is values. 3. T E C H N O L O G Y My grandfather had the vision to modify Volkswagen bugs into little wooden pick-up truck looking vehicles to help the farmers of Bolivia by relieving the heavy loads usually carried on their backs. Historically missionaries have had a tremendous contribution to the undeveloped world to bring quality of life through technology. 4. P R O J E C T S Projects are the 9 to 5 for missionaries. For these projects to be executed successfully, missionaries need to put in the hours. Missionary projects may be planting new churches, building and maintaining an orphanage, creating a suicide hotline, building a bridge or a well. Professionalism is required from missionaries to do these projects adequately. 5. R I S K Missionaries get paid to risk. The roads they may travel, the people groups they reach out to, the governmental laws they may be subject too, the diseases they are exposed too, the water they drink, the distances between them and the nearest hospital. All of these bring missionaries one step closer to the possibility of being, injured, sick, imprisoned, murdered, die. Take that into account when supporting a missionary and keep them in your prayers. 6. R A N D O M A C T S O F K I N D N E S S Once we were driving out to a mountain and we saw a woman lying on the road. It’s a very common thing to see. The missionary driving thought we should stop. Others in the car thought we should keep going, that she was probably just a homeless drunkard. The missionary stopped and went to check on the woman, we all shrugged and got out of the vehicle and followed. She turned out to be a poor woman breathing her last, dying of tuberculosis. She died surrounded by us, hearing that Jesus loves her. Missionaries should be the person that stops to help, the person that will take the extra time to check what is up, to sit with the dying, to stay the extra hour, to go the extra mile. 7. T E S T I M O N Y Timothy Keller in a sermon said that being in the presence of a holy person changes you. Missionaries like all Christians should have a testimony of holy living to take wherever they go. Missionaries don’t get paid to be holy, but people in dark places of society being exposed to examples of holiness, life changing holiness, is a by-product made possible by you when you support a missionary to go. |
Stories From The Past
November 2019
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